Why Most Car Care Brands Don’t Innovate Anymore

Jimbo Balaam on

Why does every detailing product feel the same? In this post, we break down why most car care brands have stopped innovating—and what Jimbo’s Detailing is doing differently.

Why Most Car Care Brands Don’t Innovate Anymore

Why Most Car Care Brands Don’t Innovate Anymore

Ever notice how every spray wax, detailer, or soap on the shelf kind of looks—and works—the same? You’re not imagining it. The truth is, most car care brands have stopped innovating. And that’s exactly why I started Jimbo’s Detailing in the first place.

The Industry Has Settled for “Good Enough”

Once a product gets to the point where it “sort of” works and customers stop complaining, most big brands move on. No further testing, no reformulation, and definitely no pushing the envelope. Why? Because true innovation is expensive. It takes time, money, and testing—not just marketing hype.

Most companies would rather put those resources into rebranding the same formula with a new label than actually improving what’s in the bottle.

Copying Beats Creating (In Their Eyes)

Look around and you’ll see it—endless knock-offs and “me-too” products. One brand launches a ceramic spray, and suddenly 10 others pop up with nearly identical versions. That’s because copying is easier than creating. But as a detailer myself, I knew we needed something different.

That’s why at Jimbo’s Detailing, we don’t just follow the trends—we test, tweak, and push formulas until they’re dialed in for real-world results. Picture Perfect Polish is a great example: a true one-step polish that cuts, finishes, and never dusts. No fluff. Just performance.

They Don’t Use the Products Themselves

This one’s huge. A lot of the biggest brands are run by boardrooms, not detailers. That disconnect shows. When you’re not in the trenches cleaning cars daily, you lose sight of what actually works. At Jimbo’s, we use every product we sell—on real cars, with real expectations. If it doesn’t meet the standard, it doesn’t get bottled.

Mass Production Kills Creativity

Scaling a product to thousands of units a day means playing it safe. Most big manufacturers don’t want to risk new formulas that could cause returns or complaints, even if they’re better. So they stick to what’s easy to mass-produce, not what’s best for your paint.

What Makes Jimbo’s Detailing Different?

  • We test in real-world conditions—on everything from exotics to barn finds
  • We work directly with chemists to build from scratch, not white-label
  • We prioritize performance, not hype
  • We’re not afraid to throw out a formula and start over if it’s not right

Our goal is simple: build the kind of detailing products we wish existed when we started. No shortcuts. No gimmicks. Just products that work harder and smarter, like The Super Soaper and Tough As Shell.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve been burned by overhyped detailing products that don’t live up to their claims, you’re not alone. That frustration is what pushed me to build something better. We’re not here to blend in—we’re here to raise the bar.

Watch the full breakdown on this topic in my latest YouTube episode below, where I go deeper on why the industry plays it safe and how we’re doing things differently at Jimbo’s Detailing.

🛒 Featured Products: